The recent sharp increase in food prices
should have benefited millions of poor people who make their living from
agriculture. However, decades of misguided policies by developing country
governments on agriculture, trade, and domestic markets - often promoted
by international financial institutions and supported by donor countries
- have prevented poor farmers and rural workers from reaping the benefits
of higher commodity prices. As a result, the crisis is hurting poor producers
and consumers alike, threatening to reverse recent progress on poverty
reduction in many countries.

- World cereal production in 2008 is
forecast to increase 4.9 percent to a record 2 232 million tonnes, considerably
up from earlier predictions after better than expected results from the
major harvests gathered in the past two months.

- Based on the latest production forecast,
a significant improvement in the global supply and demand balance for cereals
in the 2008/09 season can be expected.

In its resolution 60/124 of December
2005, the General Assembly of the United Nations sought to remedy two problems
that had bedevilled UN efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance in a
timely and effective manner.

- World cereal production in 2008 is
forecast to increase 2.8 percent to a record 2 180 million tonnes. Most
of the increase is in wheat following significant expansion in plantings
in all regions. Coarse grains output is expected around the bumper level
of last year but lower than earlier anticipated due to severe floods in
the United States, the world's largest producer and exporter. Rice is
tentatively forecast to increase slightly from last year's good level.

- Despite the anticipated increase in
world output, cereal markets will remain tight in 2008/09.

The United Nations and other aid agencies
still needed $3.6 billion to respond to the world's most severe humanitarian
crises and disasters through their 2008 Consolidated and Flash Appeals,
John Holmes, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said this afternoon during a Headquarters
press conference.

So far this year, international donors
had given just 46 per cent, or $2.9 billion, of the $6.5 billion …

(New York/Geneva, 16 July): Six
months into 2008, United Nations agencies, the International Organisation
for Migration, and 239 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) still require
USD 3.4 billion to respond to the world's most severe crises through this
year's Consolidated
and Flash Appeals. Overall humanitarian
funding requirements for 2008 for the 34 countries covered by these 11
Consolidated Appeals and six Flash Appeals have risen from $5.4 billion
at the start of the year to $6.5 billion now.

- World cereal production in 2008 is
forecast to increase 2.6 percent to a record 2 164 million tonnes. The
bulk of the increase is expected to be in wheat following significant expansion
in plantings in major producing countries. Coarse grains output is tentatively
forecast to remain around the bumper level of last year. Rice production
is foreseen to increase slightly reflecting production incentives in several
Asian countries.

Talking about sanitation is not "nice".
It's a matter of life and death. Poor hygiene leads directly to diseases
such as cholera and diarrhea - which in turn kill five million people
a year, mostly children.

Better sanitation facilities could reduce
diarrhea-related morbidity by more than one third, while improved hygiene,
such as proper hand-washing, can halve the rate of diarrheal disease and
respiratory tract infections in the first place.

- Early prospects point to the possibility
of a significant increase in world cereal production in 2008, mainly following
expansion of winter grain plantings in Europe and the United States coupled
with generally satisfactory weather conditions.

- International prices of most cereals
remain high and some are still on the increase.

In regions wracked by violence or submerged
by floods, the first emergency is how to deliver enough food as quickly
and efficiently as possible. Here are some of the crises counted among
WFP's "global hotspots".

Afghanistan

WFP continues to provide food assistance
to victims of harsh winter conditions in Farah and Hirat provinces. A total
of 60 tons have been dispatched to more than 6,000 beneficiaries in Farah
province.